Now that China has successfully completed its first manned mission, the United States is worried that it may be left behind when it comes to space-related endeavors.

China initially launched its Tiangong 1 prototype space station module in September 2011 and linked its Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to it in November. Earlier this month, China completed its first manned mission to Tiangong 1 using its Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, which contained the country's first female astronaut.

With so many firsts under China's belt, the U.S. is getting a little worried. Some scientists, such as lunar geologist Paul Spudis say that China could renounce the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which states that no one can claim national sovereignty in space. Spudis believes that potential resources on the moon, such as water, could tempt the country into renouncing the treaty.

There are also worries about the U.S. government's space program. While the U.S. has the private sector (SpaceX) taking care of space-related business for now, there are concerns regarding the private sector's ability to uphold the American space effort without the government's support. The U.S.' funding for the space program has been quite low, even to the point where NASA urged Congress to provide the full $850 million for commercial crew vehicle development last October.

However, the private sector has made strong contributions so far with SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule making its first successful trip to the International Space Station (ISS) last month.

Others aren't quite as worried about China's position in the space race. According to Jeff Foust, an aerospace analyst, journalist and publisher, China's space program could potentially face some issues with coordination because it is ran by many different government agencies instead of just one.

Regardless, China is now a member of the space race and the U.S. may be taking the new potential competitor into consideration.

If America is "turning towards" anything it's plutocracy. When you need a billion to run for president and congressmen need to raise 2400$ an hour for their next campaign - and we see a constant revolving door of politicians turned lobbyists shaking down their ex-colleagues (and being shaked down by them in turn!) and legislation arrives for legislators to put the floor pre-written by lobbyists then I'm not sure there's a better term for that then plutocracy!

The idea that the Obama is turning to Marxism can only be the product of an enfeebled mind unfortunately damaged significantly by the effects of cold war propaganda - I mean if this was true then wouldn't Goldman Sachs be the octopus at the center of this Marxist plot? Goldman Sachs?? - big money investment firm, and harbinger of the commie revolution!!!